CALGARY, AB -- Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 26 shots, earning his first shutout of the season, in the Calgary Flames 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.

Kiprusoff has recorded 41 shutouts in his career with 38 of those coming in a Flames jersey.

The netminder is now 18-10-2-2 in his career against Nashville.

"It’s a pretty nice feeling," said Kiprusoff afterwards. "Playing with that team, you know it’s going to be close. They have pretty good goalie there, so we know we have to play tight and try to use our chances."

Giordano was struck in the ankle with a puck while blocking a shot and tried valiently to make it back to the bench but fell to the ice after just a few strides.

Butler was hit in the face after a pass was deflected high. He immediately went to the locker room for repairs and was able to return in the second period.

Despite being short two men on the blueline, it was two defenceman that got the Flames on the board in the first frame.

Derek Smith opened the scoring at 18:50, converting an excellent pass from TJ Brodie. It was Smith's first NHL goal, making him the third member of the team to notch their first career tally this season.

‘"Rinne’s a tough goalie," said Smith . "You definitely got to take advantage. He’s one of the best goalies in the league. If he’s going to see it, he’s going to stop it."Jarome Iginla also assisted on the goal, pushing his points total to 12. The Flames captain has points in three of his last four games.

Nashville nearly evened the score late in the third period when Blake Comeau was called for hooking at 14:46 but a few lucky bounces and some great saves from Kiprusoff preserved the win for the Flames.

"It was one of those games where we didn’t give up many chances, but when we did, Kipper was there to back us up," Smith stated. "He was our best player tonight."